Equestrienne tights



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. H. PIKE. B QUESTRIENNE TIeHTs.

(No Model Patented Septr. 5, 18.93.

2' Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

vJe. PIKE, EQUESTRIBNNE TIGHTS.

Patented Sept. 5, 1893.

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UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH II. PIKE, oF YPsILANTI, MICHIGAN.

EQUESTRIENNE TIGHTS.

SPECIFICATION forming psa @Letters raient No.' 504,402, dated september 5, 1893. Application fue@ ump 14,1893. f sentirti. 465,884. (No specimens.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH H. PIKE, of: Ypsllanti, in the county of V Washtenaw 'and- State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Equestrienne Tlghts; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanyIng drawings, and to the lettersof reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Thisinventionrelates to equestriennetghts, knit drawers, or similar garments for ladies wear of that kind which is made of flexible knit or ribbed fabric, such as is produced by means of singlethread lknitting machines, such as those known as the Lamb machines the invention relating more especially to a construction by which the necessary fullness is provided in the rear portion or seat of the garment.

The invention is applicable both to drawers alone and to combination garments or those consisting of a shirt and drawers made in one piece.

In the manufacture of knit garments of the kind referred to the garments; are usually formed of pieces or sections of knitted fabric extending continuously from top to bottom of the same, the sections beingwidened andv narrowed to give suitable shape to the garment and united by seams at the 'inner sides of the legs, and sometimes, also, at the outer sides of the legs, In some instances the necessary fullness at the seat of the garment has been given by widening one or both edges of the parts or halves of the garment, and in other instances separate gores or filling pieces of proper shape have been attached orsewed to the rear edges of the main parts of the garment to give suitable fullness in the seat.v A disadvantage arising from the prior construction first, mentioned is that the addedy `width produced by the widening of the main vone part or half of the garment before its con- L whereinaseparate piece is inserted, has the disadvantage of requiring two seams coming together at the upper end of the piece,which not only detracts from the appearance of the garment, but by reason of the fact that they are relatively inelastic, prevent the parts of the garment from stretching uniformly or fitting smoothly. The insertion of such added pieces, furthermore, requires a separate operation in the manufacture of the garment and thereby increases its cost.

In a garment constructed in accordance with my invention the two parts or halves forming the sides of the connected rear parts of the garment are each knit in one piece and 'the fullness at the seat is obtained by leaving a vertical slit or opening at or near the upper part of the seat, in widening the fabric at one or both sides of said vertical slit and at the end of said slitl joining the parts at oppositesides of the slit; the slit being thereafter sewed up or closed,'with the result that the garment is fuller or lwid er below than above the slit to an extent equal to the number of stitches added in the widening. The finished garment thus constructed exhibits only a single short seam at either side of the central seam which unites the two halves of the garment at the rear, and this being approximately vertical it practically has no eifect to limit the lateral elasticity of the fabric, while the elasticity is fully preserved across the main part or seat of the garment, there being no seam at all at this point.

The invention may be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- I Figure l shows a garment embodying my invention as seen from the rear. Fig. 2 shows 9o nection with the other half of the same.

f As shown in the said drawings, A A indicate the sides or halves constituting the garment, and which in the particular instance shown are united at the inner sides ofthe legs byseams a a, and at the back from the crotch to the waist by a seama.

' In the case of the so-called tights or equestrienne tights, the seam a will be continued at the front of the garment upwardly to the roo waist line, but the garment may be open at the front above the crotch, if desired. Each side A is made or knitted continuously or in a single piece from the waist to the bottom of the leg. In the case of a combination garment, each side will be knitted continuously from the shoulder to the bottom of the leg. In some instances, however, the garment will be knit in four main pieces, in which case there will be a seam at the outer as well as the inner side of the leg, or, in other Words, the part or half A shown in Fig. 2 will consist of two strips or pieces united bya longitudinal seam.

Each side or halt' A of the garment is provided in its upper part and somewhat distant from its rear edge with a seam B, at one side of which the fabric is widened so that the part of the fabric below said seam is considerably Vwider than that above the seam. At the upper end of the part forming the leg each section A is widened, as indicated at A', to an extent corresponding generally with the widening at the seam B, the general effect of the widening at the two points referred t-o being to make the circumference of the garment at the seat part considerably greater than that at the waist 0r below. the crotch.

In knitting a half or part of the garment shown in Fig. 2 when of the particularout-` line illustrated in that figure, the part or section is knitted continuously from the waist downward to the upper end of the seam B, when the knitting at one side of the seam is discontinued and the knitting at the other side proceeded with until the bottomof the seam is reached, when the opposite side is` continued to the bottom of the seam and both sides then joined and the knitting proceeded. with across the entire width of thev section. In continuing the knitting from the npperend of `the seam, added rows or ribs b b are started forming an inclined edge in a `manner common in shaping or fashioning knit garments.

the knitting at the opposite side of the seam is then brought forward a distance equal to the length of the seam, and the knitting then continued across the full width of the garment below the seam. The edges of the opening or slit formed in the manner described are then connected to form the said seam B. When the upper part of the leg is reached the seat portion is abruptly narrowed so as to form a shoulder extending from h to b (Fig. 2), and the leg is then shaped in the usual manner, as for instance, by narrowing or tapering it from b to b2 at one margin of the leg and from b3 to b4 at the other margin thereof, and thereafter continuing the knitting of the smaller part of the leg downward to the bottom of the same.

To form each leg of the drawers, the leg portion of each section A is folded together and its side edges joined from the bottom After the necessary wldening has been secured in this manner` thereof upto the points bb, while the shoulder b to b is secured to the front margin from the points b5to b3. The two halves thus formed are joined together by the seam a which connects the two sections from the points b upwardly to the top of the garment at the rear, and from the point b5 upwardly to the top of the garment at the front. It will be noted from the illustration, Fig. l, that the seams a2 a2 are those formed by joining the part of the margin b to b to that between b and h5.

The widening of the fabric by additional rows of stitches h6 b may be eected at either side of the seam B, but preferably such widening iseiiected at that side of the seam adjacent tothe front of the garment, so that the seams are deliected inwardly and extend obliquely across the rear part of the garment above the most protuberant parts of the figure.

As hereinbefore stated, the presence of the added rows of stitches barb gives the desired fullness and proper shape to the seat of the garment at exactly the place required for a smooth and perfect fit, while `the single separate and independent seams B B extending vertically or nearly so at either side of the center of the garment do not materially lessen the elasticity of the fabric either horizontally or vertically, so that the garment may smoothly and closely t the figure and perfectly accommodate itself to the size and form thereof. While the added ribs or rows of stitches b6 b are shown as located on one side of the seams B B only, yet

it is obvious that the same Yeifect may be secured by added ribs or rows of stitches at both sidesof said seam, and a construction of this kind is therefore included in my invention.

I claim as my invention 1. A garment of elastic or knit goods, which is enlarged at the seatof the garment by means of added ribsor rows of stitches at each side of the center line of `the garment, said added ribsor rows ofstitchesterminating at their upperends in a seam B,and the `fabric being continuousaboveand below saidfseam, substantially as described.

2. A garment of elastic` or ribbed knit goods, which is enlarged at the seat by means of added ribs or rows of stitches at each side of the center line of the garment, said added ribs or rows of stitches terminating at their upper ends in a seam B, the eularged or widened part of the fabric terminating at its lower end in a transverse edge or shoulder which is secured to the front margin of the side piece of the garment, substantially as described.

3. A garment of elastic or `ribbed knit goods, consisting of two main side pieces or sections which are united along the middle line of the garment, and each of which is enlarged at the seat by means of added ribs or IOO lIO

rows of stitches which terminate at their up;

per end in a seam B, and which is provided at the upper end of its leg portion with a transverse margin or shoulder which is secured to the opposite or front edge of said main part'or section, substantially as described.

In testimony that claim the foregoing asA my invention I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH H. PIKE.

Witnesses:

JNO. BARRY CoLvAN, J. R. DORENBURG. 

